Australian Government to invest $10M into IoT Thinxtra

The Australian Government’s statutory authority Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has today announced a A$10M investment into Thinxtra’s Series B capital raise. This cornerstone investment by CEFC will allow Thinxtra to complete its first nationwide network dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Investment opportunity

CEFC’s A$10M commitment, via the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, is part of Thinxtra’s current Series B capital raising, which has already secured over A$15M and is currently taking limited over-subscriptions via the VentureCrowd platform. This round will remain open to VentureCrowd investors until 28 August 2017, offering eligible investors the opportunity to co-invest on the same terms* as CEFC.

Australian company Thinxtra is deploying the world-leading Sigfox Low Powered Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology. The technology is part of a global network connecting billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible, as simply as possible.

CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “Australia is a vast country with a scattered population. A large amount of energy is expended in physically monitoring millions of pallets, waste containers, gas canisters, farm gates, livestock and more. By providing a low-cost solution for tracking and monitoring these assets, we can save a huge amount of emissions.”

“Our finance for Thinxtra will help build essential support technology which is set to play a key role in transitioning the Australian economy to net zero emissions by the second half of the century.”

“We’re talking about the potential to operate

smarter cities, more energy efficient and liveable

buildings, better monitoring of environmental assets,

better health monitoring and more

sustainable agricultural practices.”

“Our network has been designed with IoT in mind. It is open and an extension of the global Sigfox network, based on antennae and base station infrastructure that is independent of existing telco networks.”

More than 150 local businesses have already partnered with Thinxtra to leverage its network technology to create operational efficiencies in a wide range of industries, such as:

– Smart water meter service companies that enable large water users to detect leaks

– Smart farming service providers with waterproof data communicators that integrate with software and sensors to provide daily data on soil, weather and other environmental monitoring

* Same valuation and other material terms. Some exclusive terms apply to the investor that are specific to its status as an Australian Government body. The investor also has a right to appoint a director to the board of Thinxtra.

About the CEFC

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation invests, applying commercial rigour, to increase the flow of finance into the clean energy sector. Our mission is to accelerate Australia’s transformation towards a more competitive economy in a carbon constrained world, by acting as a catalyst to increase investment in emissions reduction. We do this through an investment strategy focused on cleaner power solutions, including large and small-scale solar, wind and bioenergy; and a better built environment, with investments to drive more energy efficient property, vehicles, infrastructure, and industry. The CEFC also invests with co-financiers to develop new sources of capital for the clean energy sector, including climate bonds, equity funds, aggregation facilities and other financial solutions. The CEFC operates under the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012.